Maleficent and her associates gathered around the stone table in the center tower of Villain's Vale. Once, these villains held host in the much grander Hollow Bastion castle, but now they found themselves in a more humble setting. Their numbers had also been reduced thanks to the interference of the Key bearer. Of her original six acolytes, only Hades and Ursula managed to endure. Still, they'd proven themselves the most resourceful of her allies, and Maleficent could hardly complain about the aptitude both possessed in wielding the powers of Darkness.

"Now then, let us begin," Maleficent declared.

"Uh, Maleficent?" a deep voice from the hallway outside spoke up. "D'ya think maybe I could be a part of the council meetin'?"

"Silence!" Maleficent shouted. "I am not to be interrupted by you, you blundering fool. After your countless failures, you should consider yourself quite fortunate that I continue to allow you to scrub my floors, Pete."

Pete silently scurried back to his janitorial duties. Maleficent scoffed at such weakness before turning attention back to her allies.

"Malef, babe, gonna cut ya short real quick," Hades said before Maleficent could continue. "This whole Bad Guy Cabal booga-booga was fun and all back in the day, but three does not a legion make. Besides, I've got my own party to set the places for, and mine doesn't involve those black cloaked twerps mucking it up. So, hey, thanks but no thanks."

"Oh come on, hot stuff," Ursula said, giving Hades a playful shove. "The least we can do is hear her out. You can always leave and get defeated by Hercules later."

"HEY! JERKULES IS GONNA GO DOWN THIS TIME!" Hades shouted, flaring up.

"Enough!" Maleficent said in a commanding voice that earned both Hades and Ursula's undivided attention. "It is true, our numbers are few and the threat of Xehanort looms, but I have no intention of allowing myself to become irrelevant. Unfortunately, the old game is stacked against us. Trying to conquer the worlds like Xehanort will simply result in failure or further enslavement to the old fool."

"Yeah, good, fine, dramatic introduction," Hades said with a sigh. "Can we maybe cut to the chase here?"

"Very well," Maleficent nodded. "Are you familiar with the Book of Prophecies?"

Ursula shook her head, but Hades perked up at the mention of the book.

"Babe, that thing was ancient when the titans ruled Olympus," Hades said. "I always thought it was just a myth, but, I mean, hey, I guess mythic lords of the dead shouldn't throw stones, eh?"

"Care to elaborate?" Ursula asked.

"The Book of Prophecies is an ancient tome with the power to transcribe events that have yet to transpire," Maleficent explained. "In addition, legend has it that the book can also conjure worlds and beings into existence."

"Mmm, sounds deliciously powerful," Ursula chuckled. "So where do we find it?"

"The book's been lost for eons," Hades explained. "Not even Zeusy knows where to find it, and believe me, he looked. Didn't want that power to fall into the 'wrong hands.'"

"Ah, but I have potentially found a clue to the book's whereabouts," Maleficent said. "The journal that insignificant insect Jiminy Cricket kept was utilized to create a world unto itself known as the 'date escape.' T'was no mere illuson either. Such a power should be unfathomable, and yet, there it was."

"Yeah, we was stuck inside it!" Pete's voice chimed in from the hall.

Maleficent growled under her breath as a thunderbolt struck Pete, causing him to cry out in pain.

"There's some connection between the journal and the Book of Prophecies," Maleficent declared. "There must be. Unfortunately, the king and his pitiful lackeys refused to relinquish it to me, and that wretched Cornerstone of Light prevents my Heartless from coming to my aid within that miserable castle."

"Sounds like an operation that requires being sneaky," Ursula cooed.

"No offense, but none of us here are exactly what I'd call subtle," Hades said. "But, hey, I might know a guy in another pantheon who could get the job done."

Maleficent nodded. "Expanding our ranks should be a priority as we-"

Three shadow Heartless interrupted by manifesting in the center of the council room. Despite initially being taken aback, Maleficent quickly responded with a wordless command for the Heartless to leave. However, they did not seem to be heeding her orders. The Heartless leaped forward to attack Maleficent, but she destroyed them each with a thunderbolt before they could reach her.

"Why did they not heed my commands?" Maleficent pondered aloud.

Maleficent dashed out onto the balcony, and Ursula and Hades followed. Legions of Heartless and Nobodies alike emerged from the Great Maw and were flooding the base of the Vale. On the ledge of the Dark Depths stood a cloaked figure whose very presence sent bolts of hot rage coursing through Maleficent's veins. Maleficent's form twirled about until it became a crackling will-o-the-wisp that landed with an explosion of flames next to the cloaked figure.

"I see you proclivity for pyrotechnics has not faded over time," Xemnas said. "It is good to maintain a certain spark within the heart: a raging passion, the heart's true virtue. Alas, t'is not a virtue shared by the Nobodies. For their lack of-"

"Enough of your mindless prattle!" Maleficent interrupted. "You dare lay siege to my domain?!"

A confident smirk grew on Xemnas's face. "Indeed. Merely tying up a few loose ends. You served your purpose in Xehanort's designs, and now that purpose is long passed. You are naught but a liability at this stage, and the true Organization XIII can scarcely afford to allow you to continue. It is not as if you bare any true opposition to us. However, the possibility of you eliminating a key player in the union of seven lights and thirteen darknesses amidst your stumbling for power is one in which we cannot allow to transpire."

Flames roared around Maleficent as her rage increased. Xemnas's verbose arrogance served only to further enrage her. Today would be the day Xemnas would experience her true power.

"You wish to challenge me, Xemnas?" Maleficent asked. "Then you shall experience all the powers of-"

The sound of a gun cocking interrupted her boast.

"Not so fast, witchy-poo," Xigbar said as he locked his rifle onto the sorceress. "You think Xemnas here came after you solo? As if!"

Maleficent clenched her teeth and looked back at Villain's Vale. The swarming Heartless had already torn down one of the towers of her fortress. It would not take long for the entire thing to crumble.

"Do not mourn your loss," Xemnas said. "You were never truly a player in the great game, thus there is nothing to mourn. Find comfort in the fact that you shall perish at the hands of those who will change all the worlds into something new and glorious. For we-"

Maleficent was surprised to see Xemnas blasted backwards by a fireball. Before Xigbar could react, his legs were entangled in Ursula's tentacles and he found himself hurled over the edge of the Dark Depths.

"C'mon, Malef, babe, we gotta go!" Hades said, gesturing to a Corridor of Darkness.

"We held off the Heartless as best we could," Ursula said. "But it's a lost cause now."

Maleficent clenched her teeth in rage. She hated to retreat. Villain's Vale may have been an inglorious hovel, but it was hers and to have Xehanort take even that from her stung fiercely. Yet, she could still survive this endeavor. That was something at least. She let out a deep breath and proceeded with her allies through the dark portal. By the time Xemnas got to his feet and Xigbar teleported back to his side, the three villains were long gone.

The Corridor of Darkness deposited Maleficent, Hades, and Ursula in the middle of Hades's throne room in the Underworld.

"Ladies, welcome to Chateau de Hades!" he said with a dramatic gesture. "Feel free to make yourself right at home. Mi casa es su casa and all that jazz."

"Don't worry, angelfish," Ursula said to Maleficent, picking up on her mood. "We'll get that Book of Prophecies, and once we do, then it'll be Xemnas living in a hole like sea worm!"

That thought did comfort Maleficent, but it was a small comfort after the day's disappointments. She vaguely realized that in all likelihood Pete was lost to her. She couldn't claim to care about him, but the lack of his constant bumbling would leave a certain void.

"After all that mishegoss, I'm about ready to book Xehanort on a ONE WAY ticket to Tartarus!" Hades said. "His fate's gonna put the eternal in eternal torment, babes!"

"We need more power," Maleficent said, thinking out loud. "The Heartless will not truly obey us as long as Xehanort still draws breath. We need more allies, and we need something to send our enemies a direct message that ours is not a lost cause."

"Carve out a little territory before the Book of Prophecies?" Ursula suggested.

"Indeed," Maleficent nodded.

"Well, like I was sayin' before we got rudely interrupted," Hades piped up, "I know a guy in another pantheon who's just our speed."

"We're gonna overtake Xehanort and the brat with the Keyblade!" Ursula vowed.

"Overtake? Yes, I rather like the sound of that!" Maleficent mused. "Soon, all the worlds will tremble at our feet! The feet of The Overtakers."